Received 12.10.2001

Dear author of "Closet Atheist,"

By starting out I would just like you to know that I am an 18 year old evangelical Christian. I have grown up in a Protestant Bible-believing church my entire life, but that does not mean I am ignorant. 

I know the basics of what you believe and why. But I am wondering if you are anti-Christian because you just never experienced it. It seems to me you're judging Christian beliefs upon these nuts that say they're healed by a bleeding statue of mary or something. I don't know, I may be wrong and forgive me if I am, but that's just what comes across to me.

Another thing: as atheists I understand that you don't believe in demons or the devil or anything of that nature. Well you may not be able to physically see God, but I can guarentee you, you can see and feel evil. Ask anyone who has dabbled into the occult and they'll tell you. I'm speaking from personal experience and from the experience of others.

I'd like to tell you a short story about an event that happened to my father (and no he didn't make this up). My Dad was doing a report on the occult while he was at a Christian college. He decided to go to the library and take out a Satanic Bible. When he looked at it there was a warning that said something along the lines of "Do not read this unless you are serious about Satanism, or the demons will come and rip you apart". Well my father for whatever reason decided to take it anyway. He studied it that night in his dorm room. That night while he was sleeping he was awakened by feeling something extremely heavy on his chest and felt hands squeezing his neck and choking him. He then tried to 
call for his roomate but he couldn't get it out. He then muttered the word "Jesus" and the demon disappeared. 

I know it sounds crazy and you probably think I'm making it up because you don't know me personally, but I promise you on my honor that everything I have said is true. I have several other stories from friends and relatives of things like this that has happened.

My point in all this is that if there are demons and evil in the world then God must be real. The name of Jesus is the only way to get rid of these evil "spirits". 

It's not too late to repent and turn to Jesus! God is real and he loves you! You may not think so but he does.

Acts 16:31 "...Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved..."

Psalm 53:1a "The fool has said in his heart 'There is no God.'"

I trust you'll hear everything I have said to you in this letter and may God open you eyes to the truth.

In Christ,

Mike Steffens

My Reply:

I'm afraid it will take much more than a second hand story of someone being visited by a demon while asleep to convince me that God exists.  Your father, after being warned of having his soul torn apart, was probably especially uneasy about taking the book from the library.  I'm sure it weighed on his mind as he went to sleep.

The Satanic Bible was written in 1974 by Anton Szandor LaVey and published as a mass market paperback by Avon Books to capitalize on the Satanism fad of the late 1960s. Pressed for material to meet Avon's deadline it is alleged that LaVey resorted to plagiarizing from other sources, namely Might is Right by Ragnar Redbeard, Equinox by Aleister Crowley and even Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged.  All are available from Amazon.com.  I have never read it, but reviewers say it is more a guide on living a life of self-indulgence than a key to the occult.

Doesn't it seem odd that only Christians are visited by demons or become possessed?  Satan doesn't seem to take an interest in Buddhists, Hindus or atheists and you would think that they would be especially vulnerable since they would never invoke the name of Jesus.  I think the fact that only people who believe in demons, and worry about demons, claim to be visited by them is an indication of what is really happening.  Religious people are more prone to these kinds of experiences because these ideas occupy their subconscious.  There is a desire to validate the existence of the supernatural which leads them to jump to conclusions without considering all the possible explanations.  Atheists never witness miracles, demons or other supernatural phenomenon because they remain objective.  It is no coincidence that all other-worldly creatures are invisible.

Regarding your question as to if I have ever really experienced Christianity, I was a Christian for many years.  Those beliefs were so ingrained in me that even after I realized I could no longer believe in God it took me a few years to be comfortable calling myself an atheist.  I'll be the first to admit that this web site does not capture the complete picture of Christianity, but that was not my intent.  This site focuses on the aspects of Christianity that trouble me and occasionally the ones I find entertaining.

You write that I should repent and turn to Jesus and ask God to open my eyes to the truth.  I have just as much conviction in my beliefs as you do in yours.  You seem to be content with your faith and I would never ask you to give it up simply because I disagree with you.  Please show atheists the same respect.

Mike, thanks for writing.

Reply from another reader.  Received 1.1.2002

Just a few thoughts regarding the newest email on the opinion page.

As I own a copy of the Satanic Bible, I can safely say that there is no kind of warning on or in it whatsoever. If indeed this person's father picked up a Satanic Bible with a warning like that, it must either have been a different one, which I seriously doubt, or the warning must have been placed there by someone else. LaVey's Satanism has nothing to do with anything even vaguely supernatural, and classifying it as a part of the occult (which can mean a lot of things, but almost invariably includes various forms for evil worship) would be a mistake. In short, LaVey's teachings goes something like this: Don't hurt others unless they intentionally hurt you, enjoy life and break free of Christian superstition and weakness. Its quite harmless, really.

Regards
Lars Engebretsen

Reply from another reader.  Received 1.30.2002

CA-
I was intrigued by a letter someone wrote to you describing a demon attack. What he described was something that happens to me and millions of others called sleep paralysis. 

"That night while he was sleeping he was awakened by feeling something extremely heavy on his chest and felt hands squeezing his neck and choking him. He then tried to call for his roommate but he couldn't get it out. He then muttered the word "Jesus" and the demon disappeared. "

SP is caused when the mind awakens from sleep but the body does not (meaning that the safeguards that keep you from acting out what you do in a dream are still in effect). So you are awake, but paralyzed. Breathing is also not under your control, and you feel a weight on your chest and neck. SP is often accompanied by hallucinations, not dream-like visions, but very real experiences accompanied by very real terror. Specifics vary, from the obnoxious laughing of invisible children in the room (a common one I experience) to seeing a dark figure or figures at the foot of the bed, to actually feeling being violated in some rare cases. SP is triggered by stress and is very common in adolescents, so it is no wonder that the young man experienced it when he did. 

The history of SP is understandably riddled with superstition, everything from demon attack (succubi) to alien abduction. It was not until the last few years that sleep therapists have gotten a handle on what SP was and what caused it. If this topic interests you, I encourage you to visit a library or search the web.

Keep up the good work, 
JRP